Do you find yourself unable to function in the morning without your cup of coffee? Does the afternoon have you nodding off without that blast of caffeine from soda? You just might be addicted to caffeine. Almost 90% of adults and 75% of kids consume caffeine daily in their diet. While occasional caffeine is acceptable, consuming excessive amounts regularly can be detrimental to your health.
How Caffeine Affects You
Caffeine is a stimulant so it invigorates and fuels the central nervous system of your body. When you are feeling a bit tired or unfocused, caffeine can temporarily boost the stress hormones in your blood, thereby increasing your alertness and energy. Occasional caffeine is fine but continued use eventually traps you in a vicious dependency cycle which produces side effects once you try to break it.
It takes approximately 30 minutes for caffeine to start kicking in. Caffeine boosts the dopamine levels in the body. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter similar to adrenaline that controls your mood and emotional responses such as reacting to pleasure or pain. When you consume caffeine excessively, this dopamine neurotransmitter starts to become desensitized to caffeine’s effects, meaning you start needing more and more to provide you with the same feeling of energy and alertness.
The result of caffeine addiction is that you can develop a whole host of health complaints. Excessive caffeine has been linked to hypertension, headaches, jitteriness, dizziness, tremors, insomnia, fine motor control impairment and even problems with fetal development.
Identifying Caffeine Addiction
Each person metabolizes caffeine differently so problems may present themselves in a variety of ways. However, there are some general indicators that can point to an addiction to caffeine. If you answer yes to one or more of the following questions, you may be a caffeine addict:
1. Do you rely heavily on caffeine in soda or coffee to boost your concentration at school or work?
2. Do you feel tired throughout your day and require caffeine to provide you with the energy to get through the day?
3. Have you developed hypertension, heartburn, headaches or even acid reflux?
4. Do you have trouble falling and staying asleep at night?
5. Is the feeling of exhaustion commonplace when you wake up?
6. Do you get dizzy or have feelings of vertigo?
7. Are mood swings ruling your life? Do you have severe PMS symptoms?
Combating Caffeine Addiction
While a few souls have managed to break the chains of caffeine addiction by giving it up cold turkey, many doctors do not advise this. Rather, you should practice the tapering approach. In other words, slowly reduce your intake of caffeine so that your withdrawal symptoms are kept to a minimum. For instance, if you start the day with a Big Gulp soda, try a small can of soda instead. As a substitute for a large mug of coffee, choose a smaller mug instead. When you make coffee, mix decaffeinated grounds together with the fully leaded version and as the weeks go by, steadily decrease the caffeinated grounds until you are down to straight decaf.
You may have to keep a food diary when you wish to reduce your caffeine consumption because there are some food and drink choices besides coffee and soda that may have caffeine. Chocolate, tea, weight loss pills and even some health supplements contain caffeine. If you are truly ready to kick the caffeine habit, you need to know where you are getting all of your caffeine in your diet. It won’t happen overnight; however, baby steps to eliminating this stimulant will pay off in a big way.
Do you find yourself unable to function in the morning without your cup of coffee? Does the afternoon have you nodding off without that blast of caffeine from soda? You just might be addicted to caffeine. Almost 90% of adults and 75% of kids consume caffeine daily in their diet. While occasional caffeine is acceptable, consuming excessive amounts regularly can be detrimental to your health.
How Caffeine Affects You
Caffeine is a stimulant so it invigorates and fuels the central nervous system of your body. When you are feeling a bit tired or unfocused, caffeine can temporarily boost the stress hormones in your blood, thereby increasing your alertness and energy. Occasional caffeine is fine but continued use eventually traps you in a vicious dependency cycle which produces side effects once you try to break it.
It takes approximately 30 minutes for caffeine to start kicking in. Caffeine boosts the dopamine levels in the body. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter similar to adrenaline that controls your mood and emotional responses such as reacting to pleasure or pain. When you consume caffeine excessively, this dopamine neurotransmitter starts to become desensitized to caffeine’s effects, meaning you start needing more and more to provide you with the same feeling of energy and alertness.
The result of caffeine addiction is that you can develop a whole host of health complaints. Excessive caffeine has been linked to hypertension, headaches, jitteriness, dizziness, tremors, insomnia, fine motor control impairment and even problems with fetal development.
Identifying Caffeine Addiction
Each person metabolizes caffeine differently so problems may present themselves in a variety of ways. However, there are some general indicators that can point to an addiction to caffeine. If you answer yes to one or more of the following questions, you may be a caffeine addict:
1. Do you rely heavily on caffeine in soda or coffee to boost your concentration at school or work?
2. Do you feel tired throughout your day and require caffeine to provide you with the energy to get through the day?
3. Have you developed hypertension, heartburn, headaches or even acid reflux?
4. Do you have trouble falling and staying asleep at night?
5. Is the feeling of exhaustion commonplace when you wake up?
6. Do you get dizzy or have feelings of vertigo?
7. Are mood swings ruling your life? Do you have severe PMS symptoms?
Combating Caffeine Addiction
While a few souls have managed to break the chains of caffeine addiction by giving it up cold turkey, many doctors do not advise this. Rather, you should practice the tapering approach. In other words, slowly reduce your intake of caffeine so that your withdrawal symptoms are kept to a minimum. For instance, if you start the day with a Big Gulp soda, try a small can of soda instead. As a substitute for a large mug of coffee, choose a smaller mug instead. When you make coffee, mix decaffeinated grounds together with the fully leaded version and as the weeks go by, steadily decrease the caffeinated grounds until you are down to straight decaf.
You may have to keep a food diary when you wish to reduce your caffeine consumption because there are some food and drink choices besides coffee and soda that may have caffeine. Chocolate, tea, weight loss pills and even some health supplements contain caffeine. If you are truly ready to kick the caffeine habit, you need to know where you are getting all of your caffeine in your diet. It won’t happen overnight; however, baby steps to eliminating this stimulant will pay off in a big way.